Mike Riversdale

Anyone that spots a lump of bureaucratic bullshit AND ties that to a common human desire is great in my books :) The second story just tickles my Carry On 'poos and farts are funny' mind - it's not big, it's not clever, but HA HA HA HA. The Bureau of Minor Sufferings (BMS) is a satirical AI-powered certificate generator that creates hyper-formal US government-style complaint documents for everyday petty grievances. Users describe a minor complaint — a stolen lunch, a Netflix betrayal, being left on read — and receive a personalized bureaucratic certificate complete with an official case number, two findings of fact, a severity grade on the Bureau’s DEFCON scale, a forensic emotional-impact calculation, a fabricated legal precedent, and a formal ruling. The service is free to use with no account required. Both findings and the Official Ruling are included free; an optional Official Filing ($4.99, one-time) adds a clean, watermark-free HD download. The Bureau is a parody...

Who doesn't want their tech platforms to be open, sovereign, and built to last? A question aimed at everyone in AoNZ but especially and directly to the NZ Government / government. It's well known that the NZ government is an almost totally closed ' Microsoft shop ' with Microsoft's wide ranging contracts for all agencies, use of the ( flaky ) Microsoft stack from offshore* AI / SAAS to the desktop operating systems and apps. It's Microsoft all the way down baby. Fantastic if you're Microsoft (based in Washington, United States) or a New Zealand Microsoft employee. Shit if you have any sense of being open, sovereign, built to last, which every Kiwi assumes the government is being. Catalyst , a Wellington (NZ) headquartered tech company and proudly NZ owned has fought the good fight for so long they must be bruised from all their banging of heads against the brickwall.  We're Catalyst, the technology partner backing some of New Zealand's most ...

I spent a happy few evenings last month going through all my passwords in my password manager and, for any accounts that I never use, I visited the website to delete the account. It turns out there are 4 types out of methods to delete: Big button on the website, push the delete, and it's done Fill in a form, wait for a response Send an email to an 'admin', wait for a response Call a phone number Steps 1 - 3 were fine, and around 90% of my requests were, eventually, actioned. Making me do a phone call is SHITE and I now hate the company. Here's 4 articles all about data, and the last link talks about what really happens when you 'delete' something. The danger when a metric becomes a target by Kat Greenbrook, August 2, 2026 There are many things that organisations care about that are hard to measure directly. Instead, they measure something else that correlates with what they care about. Test scores are measured to represent student learning. Emergency department ...

Wholly fark a molly, "30-40,000 images in a 24 hour period" is a shit tonne of photos The Guardian receives from it's photo journalists and others around the world. 30-40,000 images in a 24 hour period and during an event like the World Cup this can double. I can't imagine the systems they have to sieve this amount and to choose the ones they want to use, astounding eh. The Guardian’s global head of photography, Fiona Shields , also discusses : How to pursue quality in an age of phone cameras What's your advice for young photographers? Is there still a place for film in covering breaking news? Is it over for black and white photography? Is it possible to convey when a public figure's image has changed? Why always use mugshots for convicted people? Politician snaps: interesting vs unflattering? How do you ensure images are real? How do you use child images responsibly? What are your iconic political photos?

Are You In The Weights ( https://intheweights.com/ ) by Thomas Dimson and Joey Flynn. Find out if you live on in GPT-5.5, GPT-5.6 Sol, GPT-5.6 Terra, GPT-5.6 Luna, GPT-5.4 Mini, Opus 4.8, Haiku 4.5, Grok 4.20, Gemini 3.1 Lite, Kimi K2 0905, DeepSeek V4, Llama 3.3 70B, Llama 3.2 1B, GLM 4.7 Flash, Mistral 3.2 24B, and Qwen3 8B. Apparently, yes I am, yes I do -  https://intheweights.com/p/mike-riversdale  - but as an Australian cricketer, I don't think so on so many levels.   The "hallucinations" about me are closer, some times, not the rugby league fella but absolutely a world class and celebrity British actor.         WHAT ARE THE WEIGHTS? Large language models encode their knowledge and reasoning through billions of numbers called "the weights." The amazing capabilities of AI come through adjusting those weights to better represent world knowledge and tasks. "In the weights" means that a model is able to recall someone without using tools like web se...

It's that time of the year in Aotearoa New Zealand when family members are split, friends lose friends, and all over the motu people can't believe other people didn't vote for the LITTLE PENGUIN / KORORĀ  in the Bird Of The Year. What can I say, vote Kororā because they are the cutest of birds and Wellingtonians just like me. It’s the world’s smallest penguin with a big place in New Zealanders’ hearts. Marching out to sea each morning, returning at dusk after a hard day’s fishing – this penguin is a true blue worker. Forest & Bird is helping to boost the population living around Wellington's coastline. Ōamaru Penguins We’re the passionate flock behind Ōamaru Penguins, proudly championing New Zealand’s cutest little campaigners, the kororā little penguin! Our team spends its days wearing many hats (and occasionally dodging penguin attitude), caring for the colony, supporting conservation and research, and creating unforgettable visitor experie...

It's bloody hard to sit in the world as it burns (or freezes, drowns, or generally fucks up because of our own actions) and think, "What can I ACTUALLY do?" What Can We Do Personally to Reduce Emissions? Research: David McCandless, Duncan Geere / Design: David McCandless What can we do to reduce emissions? Genuinely impactful actions. Part of our ‘How to Get the World to Zero Emissions by 2050: A Graphical Guide’ The 13 biggest myths about heatwaves – and how to bust them by Jonathan Watts, 11 Jul 2026 With some still unable to accept humanity’s role in climate chaos, we tackle common misconceptions and deceptions

Natalie and I are deeply in love ... lust as well but we're not here to talk about that. Whilst marriage was off the cards for quite a while late last year we decided to make a pledge to each other. To symbolise the pledge before AoNZ friends and family we bought rings, which we both lost and have had to replace, LOL. This is what I said to Nat. What a surprise for you all, Nat and I are gonna do a thing, prepare yourselves. Getting married is a road both of us have travelled, many many times. In fact Nat is only now coming to the end of that particular path, but hasn’t quite stepped off it. So that road isn’t one we’re gonna hop on just yet … ask us in a few years. We do however, really want to do something to express our love for each other, so we’re going to, in front of all of you, Nat's family … in this part of the world. Nat … you … as I write this my heart is thumping so hard, will I be able to find the words of how deep inside me you are? I could just turn this into a m...

Wow, Microsoft seem to be hanging on to their AI platform (Azure) by their fingertips - as I've always said, Apple makes great hardware, Google makes great software, Microsoft does neither. “Surfing the edge”: Tim O’Reilly on how humans can thrive with AI by Tim Cooper, December 2, 2025 A society that uses automation to build shareholder value while impoverishing everyone else will not be successful. Plan scenarios and develop a robust AI strategy that can survive in multiple circumstances. Surfing the edge of change today requires balance and responsiveness. How Microsoft Vaporized a Trillion Dollars by Axel Rietschin, Mar 29, 2026 This is an absolutely fascinating and detailed read, if you have any interest in technology, Microsoft, and pulling up the curtain hiding the wizard then this series of posts is for you! This is the first of a series of articles in which you will learn about what may be one of the silliest, most preventable, and most costly mishaps of the 21st century, ...

Wow, what a movie  Anatomy of a Fall  (2023) is. For the past year, Sandra, a German writer, her French husband Samuel, and their eleven-year-old son Daniel have lived a secluded life in a remote town in the French Alps. When Samuel is found dead in the snow below their chalet, the police question whether he committed suicide or was killed. The court scenes are eye opening as the prosecutor hones in on Sandra's life, each moment taking on a face that fits his version of what happened. Is he right though? The French system is slightly different to the one we know in the UK / Australia / AoNZ, fascinating. The acting is top shelf,  Sandra Hüller , alongside Swann Arlaud ,  Antoine Reinartz ,  Milo Machado-Graner , and  Samuel Theis , deserve special mention but the whole cast nail it. Writer/director Justine Triet must be absolutely proud to pieces with what she created Will Sandra be found innocent or guilty and what does that have to do justice? And of cou...

A post about us humans, from the history of us to how we are all thinking about the world today. Ancient DNA Reveals Most Europeans Had Dark Skin Until Just 3,000 Years Ago by Tibi Puiu, November 25, 2025 Reconstruction of the 10,000-year-old “Cheddar Man” from Britain. Credit: Channel 4. By analyzing the genomes of 348 individuals who lived between 45,000 and 1,700 years ago, researchers have uncovered a surprising truth for some: for most of Europe’s history, the majority of its inhabitants had dark skin. Only around 3,000 years ago did lighter skin tones become dominant. The Map of Human History by Keir Clarke, November 22, 2025 The Globe of History is an ambitious new interactive map that attempts to visualize the entire sweep of human history - 6,000 years of wars, inventions, discoveries, philosophers, political upheavals, and more - on a 3D globe. Each historical event is mapped using data derived from Wikipedia, resulting in a global atlas of human events that you ...

Always ask about that fancy new theory someone is dressing up as science: Could we test this? Are the individuals behind this theory updating their claims with new findings? Is this consistent with our broader scientific understanding of the world?

Life has so much to be going on with eh, so much easier to just go with the defaults and keep trundling on. Technology defaults, sure, whatever app company. Relationship defaults, I dunno, this is what's meant to happen, no? Society defaults, yeah, I s'pose it's what we all do. Behaviour defaults, um I've always been like this, isn't everyone? We just accept what we're given and move on. Don't. The first time you exhibit some behaviour, fall in love, install an app, or get asked to move on, stop, check the defaults, and if needed, change them to suit yourself. It's a right royal pain to have to do it every single time, but believe me it'll make your life so much easier in the long run.  With tech the default settings should be off (they won't be). Check them all to see that they are off, or what you want. Every time the app / tech updates (including new device, full system update, new connection etc) check the defaults as they will have likely ch...

[also my initial post highlighting tax and finance (July 2026):  The Grounds For Voting Green ] A breakdown of 10 policy areas outside of tax and finance (see previous post ), detailing the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand’s proposals , independent sector context, and how these changes directly impact you because, as they say, "For all of us". Economy & Workplace Rights 1. Renewable Energy The Greens propose launching "Kiwipower" and updating building codes to rapidly invest in renewable energy. The New Zealand Green Building Council confirms that cutting red tape for energy efficiency directly lowers running costs and improves grid resilience. Think about the anxiety of opening a massive winter power bill. The Greens' push for renewable energy and their Kiwipower initiative is designed to take that stress away. By shifting power back to the community and away from corporate monopolies, your hard-earned wages stay in your pocke...

Love me a slice of science , especially gravity, entropy, and the big questions with enlightening answers. New quantum gravity theory links entropy, dark energy, and life via ScienceDaily, 20 July 2026 A new theoretical study offers a possible explanation for how the Universe can grow more complex without violating the second law of thermodynamics. Using a quantum gravity framework called Gravity from Entropy, mathematician Ginestra Bianconi found that the Universe’s total entropy may rise as space expands, even while entropy within each unit of volume falls. That decline could leave room for galaxies, stars, planets, and life to form locally amid an overall increase in cosmic entropy. I've read it a couple of times and I'm gonna need a couple more just to get my head around it - it involves gravity, and spacetime, and what is becoming my favourite thing that I hear underlying everything, entropy . Einstein’s “Greatest Blunder” May Be Breaking Cosmology by Paul Sutter, July 20,...

What a wonderful old story about Kiwi  Andrew Oliver and Fonterra to warm the cockles of your heart! Fonterra changes tanker schedule for #1 fan by Indira Stewart, 8 May 2019 "A big outfit like Fonterra doesn't have to do that. They simply could've ignored the request but no, they came through. And we're very grateful." Kevin said the 15-minute visit to the farm to drain its milk vats every evening is a special treat for the tanker drivers on that shift. "We like to come out here. You realise that you're lucky, how lucky you are that we're able to do this. If we can make Andy's day well, hey that's the icing on the cake." Sad to read that in July 2025, Oliver died of pneumonia at Waikato Hospital, at the age of 41. He was buried in a coffin printed with images of Fonterra milk tanker trucks.

Walk into a bookshop OR go to a bookshop website Choose you book Hand over your money The challenge is step 2, always step 2, the choosing of the book that fits the mood of the moment. 10 Fantasy Books With The Best Lore by Tom Russell, Jul 20, 2026 While there are countless incredible literary fantasy worlds waiting to be discovered, some authors stand apart because of the sheer depth of the histories and mythologies they have created. For readers searching for a world they can truly lose themselves in, these books are some of the most immersive and lore-heavy experiences fantasy has to offer. Worldbreaker Saga  by Kameron Hurley (2015-2020) Between Earth And Sky Trilogy  by Rebecca Roanhorse (2020-2024) A Song Of Ice And Fire Serie s by George R.R. Martin (1996-Present) Realm Of The Elderlings Series  by Robin Hobb (1995-2017) War Of Light And Shadow Series by Janny Wurts (1993-2024) Discworld Series by Terry Pratchett (1983-2015) Stormlight Archive Series by ...